Unbound: The Pentagon Group, Book 2 (16 page)

On Thursday morning, Matt woke me up early, anticipating a rough commute. There was no time to make love or eat breakfast. Our drive into the city was lengthened by the commuting traffic into Boston. I was tired, but thoroughly satisfied from our passionate night. Having been an hour late to work, I went straight to the office. A couple of tours in the morning started my day, and I had to be sociable and energetic when I was a bit foggy, tired, and sore.

Because it was almost the end of the month, I had a busy day with compiling reports consisting of membership updates and financial information. I was buried deep in paperwork, and was in my own little world of concentration despite the looming signature of the prenup with Matt the next morning. Turner called to inform me we had reached an agreement on all issues with the prenuptial contract. After our romantic encounter the night before, I was ready to put behind me Pentagon’s role in ruining my marriage and taking Liberty Inn. I wanted to start anew with him. Matt proved he loved me. He sacrificed everything to bring me back, and I had to see this through.

In the afternoon, after a light lunch in the break room, I returned to my office to find Brady standing in front of the closed door. Immediately, I felt anxiety and couldn’t imagine what he was doing in my work place. My heart beat furiously in my chest. Knowing he took part in destroying my marriage to Ben and working with Aida to take over their family business, I didn’t want him within a million yards of me. I quickly figured he wanted to confront me about Matt’s gift of the Pentagon shares, which Matt signed over to me in contemplation of our marriage.

“Can I help you?” I asked in a professional, but indifferent tone. Brady’s eyes lingered over my figure, raking in my body from toe to head, remaining about my breasts. I cursed myself for wearing the wrap dress Matt had packed. He had a more demure option, which I ignored for the light fabric of the wrap dress. My cleavage was on full display. I could swear he licked the bottom of his lips as his mouth curled into a smile. I refrained from curling my lips in disgust.

“Perla, how are you? I’m hoping to have a moment of your time.”

“Listen, if this is about my relationship with Matt, it really . . .”

“Why don’t we go into your office to talk?” I nodded. He gave me space to unlock the office door, but remained uncomfortably close. I could hear his inhalations as I fumbled with the lock. When we entered the room, I offered him a seat as he closed the door behind him. Before I could protest being enclosed in the small space with him, he took a seat in front of my desk. I braced myself for whatever he would say or do to make me physically uncomfortable.

“First, I’d like to offer you my sincere sadness in your break up with Matt. I assure you, he’s a good man who had every intention of being a loving boyfriend . . .” I was relieved he thought we were broken up and didn’t know about his offer of Pentagon’s shares and the rest of his fortune. I didn’t want to keep him in my office any longer than necessary.

“Get to the point . . . I’m sorry, what’s your last name?”

He shook his head in surprise and responded with, “Clay.”

“Mr. Clay . . .” He started to interrupt me, and I dismissed him with a raised hand. “My relationship with Matt is no one’s business, but ours.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Perla. And please, call me Brady. You’ll be intimately involved with me since Matt has senselessly given you his shares of our business.” He said with a touch of condescension and irritation, confirming knowledge of Matt’s ‘gift’.

“Mr. Clay, I never asked him to give me anything. Unlike you, he couldn’t disengage from the feelings he caught when he fucked me for the key to Liberty. Some people aren’t assholic enough to use a woman for financial gain and then easily walk away. He made a mistake and fell in love. You should’ve given him a few pointers before siccing him on me.” I measured my tone. I wanted to get my message across, but I didn’t know what kind of character I was dealing with. Brady had an edge to him, the ferocity of a businessman. He was confident and arrogant. I never felt comfortable around him and I needed to show him I could handle him or any man like him.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t sic him on you. I was gladly willing to take on the role, but divine intervention saw to your needing a doctor. Matt made the decision to pursue you without discussion. I can see why he likes you.” He snorted and smiled lasciviously. I didn’t find the humor. “You like to take control and don’t seem to have a problem telling people how you feel. You just tell people what you think and deal with the consequences later, don’t you?” My eyes narrowed at him.

I shook my head, dismissing his assessment of me. “Again, Mr. Clay, how can I help you?”

“To the point . . .” He sat back and stared straight through me with his piercing green eyes. “I don’t want you to marry Matt. I want you to keep the shares and property he gave you.” I was stunned. I wasn’t expecting him to request I keep twenty percent of the company he and his friends created.

“Of all people in this equation, I would’ve thought you would want me to marry him and restore your evil wizard clan.” He took a moment, and laughed uproariously.

“You’re very clever. I see why he fell in love with you. You two have the same witty personality.” Brady leaned back in the chair and looked at me before he continued, “Pentagon is a labor of love for all of us. One member can’t throw it all away for a woman. Because of you, Matt found a way to turn his back on what we’ve all built.”

“If I don’t marry Matt, how will you get it back to normal?” I interjected.

“I want to buy the shares from you. I’ll buy the Pentagon shares and you can keep the rest of Matt’s offerings.” He wanted to phase out Matt from Pentagon, which puzzled me.

“What if I don’t marry Matt and I don’t sell you the Pentagon shares?” I asked smugly.

He grinned sadistically. “Then you would leave me with no choice, but to release a really great video of you and Matt fucking in the manager’s office the night you had dinner with the group at Carve.” I was ready to vomit. My stomach churned as he kept talking. He looked satisfied with making me squirm.

“You were so right to question him if there was a video camera in the office. Matt isn’t, dare I say, as street smart as you. You’ve been around, haven’t you? Stripping in Vegas, and now fucking in public. What would your mother have thought of your behavior . . . the video? I know my mother would be disappointed to see how her little girl turned out, fucking in public places with a man she barely knew. Divorced. In debt. Working several jobs, but barely making ends meet. ” He smiled lecherously as he tore me down. It was hard to breathe. I gripped the arms of my chair, bracing myself for more.

“I’ve watched that fine piece of erotica so many times I can remember every moan, groan, and hiss that came out of your mouth. I’m getting hard just thinking about what you must taste like. He really loved eating you out. I can almost feel how your legs felt on his shoulders, nude heels on, and how you took him all in. I’ve seen his dick, it’s as impressive as mine. He’s a lucky man to have had a sexy woman like you. No wonder he fell hard.” He stared deeply into my eyes, until I pulled away in revulsion.

“I’m just disappointed I wasn’t the one fucking you as you looked deeply, lovingly and seductively into my eyes.” I squirmed, my insides shaking in fear. Brady always made me nervous and he confirmed my suspicions. He wanted me, but I also sensed he hated the notion of being with a woman like me.

He pierced through my most vulnerable layer; my disparate feelings toward my full body and my natural sensuality. Even when I danced burlesque for many men and women in Vegas, I never felt so dirty and exposed as I did sitting before Brady Clay. I thanked my God in the heavens Brady didn’t try to use me first. He could’ve easily broken me more than Matt ever did. Aida was not so lucky, having been used by Brady to acquire Parisi, she ended up killing herself over him. I collected my reserved strength.

“Who would care about two people having an intimate moment? There’s a shit load of porn out there, what makes Matt and I so special?”

“When a doctor, who is also a partner in a successful corporation in a major city, falls in love with an insolvent, divorced woman, gives her ninety percent of his fortune in return for marriage, and she decides not to marry him but keep his fortune, I’m sure a lot of people would heavily scrutinize a sex video.” He leaned forward, closer toward me.

His voice lowered as he continued, “Your family and friends would see you in a very different light than the Perla you portray yourself to be. You wouldn’t be able to go out in public without having paparazzi travel wherever you go. What man would marry and impregnate a gold digger, unless he’s a gigolo after her newly acquired money? You don’t strike me as the type to commit the rest of your life to a gigolo, and you don’t want to be alone for the rest of your life. Do you?” I felt the walls of the room closing in on me.

“It gets lonely at the top, Perla. You sell your shares to me, and you can walk away from all of us, especially from Matt. He did, after all, break your heart.” He had this all figured out. By the look on his face and gleam in his eye, he was enjoying making me uncomfortable.

“Does Matt know about the video?” I asked in a calm voice, summoned from deep within.

“No. He doesn’t need to know unless you don’t sell me your twenty percent, and then everyone will know.” I was relieved Matt wasn’t aware of the tape, which meant he didn’t have anything to do with the recording.

“How much for the shares?” I asked, needing to rid him from my life.

“Ah, I knew you’d get to the point of money. A woman like you always does.” I resisted asking him what the hell he meant by his statement. I didn’t want to verbally spar with him. Brady was far too intimidating than I’m used to. His words were like a punch to the gut. He pulled out a small manila envelope, placed it on the desk and slid it toward me. I left it on the table.

“If you and Matt are such good friends, why do you want his shares instead of him getting them back?” I needed to know why he would turn against his best friend.

“Because he took what was mine.” Brady said gruffly, his eyes trained on me. The sound of his voice stopped any follow up questions I may have had. He stood up, puffing out his broad chest and brushed at his slacks and continued, “My contact information is in the envelope. Don’t sign the prenup tomorrow. Keep in touch with me. I want to move on this right away. If you don’t sell soon, my reps are poised to push this video forward to some very interested distributors.” He walked to the door and exited. I had no idea what Matt had taken from Brady, but it was clear there was animosity which appeared one sided. Matt had never revealed any problems or resentment between any of his friends, much less Brady.

Soon after he left, my whole body shook. Having three hours left in my shift, I needed to compose myself and get back to work. So much had transpired. I should’ve known Pentagon would move quickly to preserve their business and Brady had always appeared to be the ringleader of their gang.

I was embarrassed and ashamed for allowing myself to strip away my defenses by having sex in a public place. At the time, I’d wanted to please Matt because I had missed him so much. If he’d asked me to, I would’ve dropped to my knees and given him a blow job in front of everyone in the private dining room; I was spellbound by him. I didn’t heed Alice’s words to be careful with how I displayed my body to Matt. I refused to give him a peep show when we video chatted, but the instant he wanted to fuck me, I went to an unfamiliar office and spread my legs. With my luck, it was logical for a video to be captured and used against me.

Did I even care anymore? I lost Matt, the love of my life, because of the lies and betrayal. In the grand scheme of things, the sex tape didn’t matter because I felt like I lost it all. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I didn’t want to marry Matt under those conditions. However I didn’t want to keep the shares. Most importantly, I knew Brady should never get Matt’s shares.

If Matt didn’t have anything to do with the sex tape, then how did Brady find out about our little rendezvous in the office? I surmised Brigit had informed Brady of what I said and he’d known the office was wired. He claimed Matt didn’t know we were videotaped, but it’s plausible this was part of a plan which may have backfired on Matt. One thing I determined, I needed to stay so far away from Pentagon I could potentially be transported to another continent.

*****

A knock on the door, snapped me back to reality. I looked up and saw Chelsea standing in the doorway.

“Hey, you were lost in thought. How are you?” She asked concerned.

“I’m okay. A lot on my mind. Do you think Ray will allow me to come in later tomorrow morning? I’ve taken off these past few days. I’ve been taking extra time here and there. I was late this morning. I’ve cancelled my classes with you, and now I need to open the office later for the third time this week. I’m just afraid I’ll get fired.”

“You have the time, and if you need to take it off, ask him. He’s a great guy.” I nodded, but remained quiet. “I can’t stay and chat. I just wanted to check in.” I smiled and said goodbye, lowering my eyes to the envelope on the table. I couldn’t tell Chelsea about Brady’s visit. I desperately wanted to share with her my humiliation and pain at being recorded in an intimate moment, being threatened with distribution, and losing myself in this whole relationship calamity. I went from being alone, to falling in love, to feeling lonelier than I felt after my divorce to Ben. But most of all, I felt the need to protect everyone from this quagmire I’d fallen into.